The Singaporean government offers Singaporeans a range of free education that includes the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level, and Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level, which are the required qualifications for Singaporean students entering into local universities and polytechnics respectively.
Currently however, Singapore does not offer any 2 or 4 year bachelor degree courses based on this qualification with the exception of Singapore Management University (SMU) whereby a combination of Cambridge A Levels and a bachelor degree can lead to an undergraduate honours degree from SMU in either Accounting or Actuarial Science.
A two or four year bachelor’s program is one that awards a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B..) degree after two or four years of full-time study respectively.
A Singaporean student taking a 2 or 4 year bachelor’s program will be awarded the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level if the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level is also taken. Otherwise, it will be Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level. Students graduating from Singaporean 2 and 4-year programs are currently not qualified to enter local universities without further diplomas.
The Singapore government does, however, offer Singaporeans free education leading to diploma qualifications that enable students to apply for entry into local public universities as well as give access to private university courses through the Associate Degree part-time conversion scheme (ADP). Some Singaporeans, however, prefer taking up A-Levels and entering Singapore polytechnics as the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary level is not sufficient to gain entry into Singapore’s top public universities without further qualifications. Singapore Polytechnic offers Singaporeans a range of free courses leading to diplomas in fields from Business and Information Technology to Health Sciences and Biomedical Sciences.
Singapore offers Singaporeans a choice between taking A Levels through the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level or through the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level with Singapore Management University (SMU). Aligning qualification requirements for local university admissions would allow Singaporean students the option to pursue undergraduate bachelor degree based on SICE O Levels instead. This should be an attractive option for those wishing to study at Singapore’s top public universities Singapore Management University (SMU), and the National University of Singapore (NUS), which have amongst the best International rankings in Asia, particularly those wishing to study science degrees. Singaporean students who wish to pursue a degree at an overseas university currently must take Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level or Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary level for admissions.
A Singaporean taking Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level would be awarded a Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level if they also pass Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level; otherwise, it will be Singapore Cambridge GCE Ordinary level. This would allow both diplomas as well as bachelor’s degrees from local polytechnics to be converted into Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level qualification that is currently not offered by Singapore. This Singaporean A Level can be taken either in Singapore or overseas and will be awarded at the same level as Singapore’s current local Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level qualification. Passing this qualification would also entitle a Singaporean to enroll in Singapore’s public universities without further diplomas.
A Singaporean student taking a 2 or 4-year bachelor’s program will be awarded the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level if they take up Singapore Cambridge GCE Advanced Level. Students graduating from Singaporean 2 and 4-year programs are not qualified to enter local universities without further diplomas, however—a situation that discourages bright high school graduates from Singapore to Singaporean universities. Singaporeans could then take Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level or Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level in a number of related programmes if they wish to earn an undergraduate degree without further diplomas – provided they pass Singapore Cambridge GCE Ordinary level. This would allow Singaporeans to enter local public universities after taking Singapore and/or overseas Bachelor’s degree courses.
